So I'm working on replacing the rear drums with a common available drum. All looks good accept for sourcing more RH thd lug nuts as I will be replacing the wheel studs. The left side are left hand thread from the factory.

My problem is the lug nut seat angle currently on the truck at all 4 corners. My lug nuts measure 108 degrees. WTF I included a drawing of mine and the common available ones. Is this normal for the big 6 International's? Everything available as far back as I can find would use 90 degree seats. I hope they are not modified. It is hard to tell from the wheel, what they are.

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Robert Kenney

People preach " Don't over think life, just go where it takes you". But I can't help but think of the Wise Ancient Mariner who looks toward the horizon for any sign of storm clouds.

More importantly, it appears to be an 8-lug drum you have machined to become a big 6-lug.

How did that work out?

Correct, Quite a bit of machining, and extra curricular activities on the first set.
Test drive will commence on this coming Sunday. I don't expect any difficulties. Will report back after the shake down.

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Robert Kenney

People preach " Don't over think life, just go where it takes you". But I can't help but think of the Wise Ancient Mariner who looks toward the horizon for any sign of storm clouds.

All buttoned up. Took her for a shake down drive. Have to say that it stops as well as any late model. Very nice pedal and low effort to bring to a quick stop. I think the hydraulics are set up to give to much proportional rear braking effort compared to the front. I might drop the rear wheel cylinder diameter by 1/8" to help that. I will wait till I drive it more before making the final decision.

One thing I will do before to much mileage is to have the drums trued. They need to be mounted to the hub and have the lug nuts torqued before trueing. The drums new out of the box were not round. One was .010" and the other was .015" bigger in diameter at 90 deg increments, when I indicated them in for machining. Probably should have done the trueing before mounting them, but I was anxious to test drive it.

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Robert Kenney

People preach " Don't over think life, just go where it takes you". But I can't help but think of the Wise Ancient Mariner who looks toward the horizon for any sign of storm clouds.

All buttoned up. Took her for a shake down drive. Have to say that it stops as well as any late model. Very nice pedal and low effort to bring to a quick stop. I think the hydraulics are set up to give to much proportional rear braking effort compared to the front. I might drop the rear wheel cylinder diameter by 1/8" to help that. I will wait till I drive it more before making the final decision.

One thing I will do before to much mileage is to have the drums trued. They need to be mounted to the hub and have the lug nuts torqued before trueing. The drums new out of the box were not round. One was .010" and the other was .015" bigger in diameter at 90 deg increments, when I indicated them in for machining. Probably should have done the trueing before mounting them, but I was anxious to test drive it.

Have found that to. Be soo true in the past 40 years. Always had rotors and drums trued up when installing new 1s.even in larger trucks as well. That's why most shops always had a shoe grinding/sanding machine. To sand the brake shoes to a perfect fit for the drums. Still have the machine dad had in D-ship shop! Still works to.

All went well. Had the drum assemblies trued Saturday morning. I like driving it much more now. No more over spec thin drums. No more chasing the steering while braking hard. Nice hard smooth pedal. Definitely a good upgrade for the unobtainium rear drums.

Attached Images

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Robert Kenney

People preach " Don't over think life, just go where it takes you". But I can't help but think of the Wise Ancient Mariner who looks toward the horizon for any sign of storm clouds.

So now you have new rear drums that appear to be wider than the originals.

What did you use and how did you get them to fit?

I saw one picture of the drum with some extra holes drilled for the studs. How did you do that? How much meat was left in the center of the drum with all of the extra holes drilled in the center?

I would imagine braking has greatly improved.

I know that when I am hitched to my Avion 34V tri-axle that when I step on the brakes the extra six brake drums slow the old T-all down much faster than I can stop the T-all by itself. Without those six brake drums braking the T-all has a really hard time slowing, let alone stopping, the 34V.

So now you have new rear drums that appear to be wider than the originals.

What did you use and how did you get them to fit?

I saw one picture of the drum with some extra holes drilled for the studs. How did you do that? How much meat was left in the center of the drum with all of the extra holes drilled in the center?

I would imagine braking has greatly improved.

I know that when I am hitched to my Avion 34V tri-axle that when I step on the brakes the extra six brake drums slow the old T-all down much faster than I can stop the T-all by itself. Without those six brake drums braking the T-all has a really hard time slowing, let alone stopping, the 34V.

I've posted what I am planning to post. All I can say is that it took a lot of time, engineering, and machining to put it together and if done incorrectly can lead to less than favorable outcomes. I can't accept the liability for posting more detail than has been posted. None of the pieces as they went into this are commercially available and need to be made.

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Robert Kenney

People preach " Don't over think life, just go where it takes you". But I can't help but think of the Wise Ancient Mariner who looks toward the horizon for any sign of storm clouds.